Metallic insulating-covering for telegraph-wi res



(No Model.)

, E. CLARK.

METALLIC INSULATING COVERING FOR TELEGRAPH WIRES.

N0. 287,236. Patented Oct. 23, 1883..

m 0 T N E V N I ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES M 5 m/ UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDIVARD CLARK, OF CORNVALL, NEIV YORK.

METALLIC INSULATING-COVERING FOR TELEGRAPH-WIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 287,236, dated Cctober23, 1883. Application filed September 10, 1883. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD CLARK, ofCornwall, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Insulating- Coveringsfor Telegraphires and other Electric lVires, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a side view of a piece of my improved wire, showing thevarious parts. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is across-section of the same.

The object of this invention is tov facilitate the handling and layingof electric wires, and promote the durability of such wires, while securing a perfect insulation.

The invention consists in a metallic covering for electric wires, madeby covering the wires with a coating of copper, coating thecopper-coated wires with a compound of copper and Babbitt metal, andcovering the said compound coating with a coating of lead. The wiresthus prepared are covered with rubber or other moisture-excludingmaterial, and iiicased in a metallic tube, to adapt the said wires to belaid under ground and-in water, as will be hereinafter fully described.

In carrying my invention into practical use I melt a quantity of soitcopper in a suitable vessel, and in another suitable vessel I melt softcopper and Babbitt metal in equal quantities. The wire, A, to beinsulated is drawn through diluted sulphuric acid, and is thenimmediately drawn through the melted copper one, two, or more times, toinsure the coating of the whole surface of the wire with copper, I). Thecopper-coated wire, when cold, or at any convenient time thereafter, isdrawn through the melted copper and Babbitt metal three times, more orless, until a coating, 0, of the desired thickness has been formed uponthe wire. \Vhen cold, the coated wire is drawn one or more times throughmelted lead, to form a thin coating, D, oi'lead over the surface of thesaid coated wire. As thus prepared, the wire is adapted for use whensuspended upon poles or other supports, and when thus used requires noglass or other insulators.

To adapt the wire for use under ground and in water, the wire coated ashereinbefore described is coated with rubber, E, paper-pulp, or othermoisture-exchuling material, by any of the processes now in common use;or the wire can be coated with a compound formed of dissolved rubber,ten pounds powdered leather, four pounds; cotton flock, one pound;rosin, four pounds, and palm-oil, one pound. In preparing this compoundthe rosin is melted in a suitable vessel, the other ingredients are thenadded, and the whole is stirred until the said ingredients arethoroughly mixed. The wire is then coated with the compound in themanner hereinbefore described, or by any other suitable machinery. Thewire thus prepared is then drawn through a tube, F, made sufficientlylarge to allow the said'wire to be drawn through it readily. This outertube, F, is formed of lead, ten pounds; soft copper, one pound, andBabbitt metal, two pounds, melted together and thoroughly mixed, andthen made into a tube in the ordinary manner. If de sired, the coatedwire may be covered witln cloth before being drawn through the tube F,to guard against any possible injury to the coating of the wire whilebeing drawn through the tube. Vith this construction the copper coatingB gives a good conductingsurface to the wire A, the compound coating 0protects the wire from dampness, and at the same time increases theconducting capacity of the wire, and the lead coating D insulates thesaid wire.

The noirconducting coating E protects the wire from dampness, and thecovering-tube F protects the said wirefrom accidental injury. The twocoverings E F adapt the wire to be laid in water and under ground.

\Vires thus prepared can belaid side by side and across each otherwithout the escape of any part of the electric currents and withoutdeveloping inductioncurrents in any of the adjacent wires.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A metallic covering for electric wires,

made substantially as herein shown and de- 1 of the moisture-excludingcovering E and the scribed, and consisting of the copper coating 13,inclosing-tube F, substantially asherein shown 10 applied to the wire,the copper and Babbittand described, whereby the wire is adapted tometal coating 0, applied to the copper-coated be laid under ground andin water, as set forth.

wire, and the lead coating D, as set forth. EDWARD CLARK.

2. The combination, with the wire A, pro- WVitnesses: vided with acopper coating, 13, a copper and JAMES T. GRAHAM,

Babbitt-metal coating, 0, and alead coating, D, O. SEDGWICK.

